Transalp, stage 7

Finally an easy ride. Amazing how much better I feel after taking it easy. Right from the start we decided to have an easy day. Milena was tired after chasing us for several days and I welcomed such an agreement aswell.
The stage was short, but a lot of things happened to us anyway. I lost a pedal after the first downhill. Luckily it was on a flat part. Daniel stopped and also Heiko. They fixed my bike again and brought me back to the group. A big thank you to Heiko! It was not his job to help me, but he did.
The longest climb for today was up to almost 2200 meters. We took it easy, but sometimes it was very steep and it was impossible to ride and save some energy.
In the last downhill of the day I had a flat tire. A had a nail in the tire! That was bad luck, but both mixed teams stopped and waited for us. They showed a true sportsmanship! Thanks to both teams!
The last 50 meters of the race almost turned into a disaster for all six of us. We were riding after each other and suddenly there was a car in front of us. That car turned right, Jane and Marcus was almost hit by it. Luckily nothing happened! In the men’s category a similar accidnet happened, but the consequenses were much worse. The Swiss team BixS was hit by the car and the riders was taken to hospital.
Trans Alp is a special event, but sometimes I think it is just too dangerous. There are teams fighting for the victory and the track is not fully closed for traffic. It is just insane! Amazing that nothing really bad has happened until now. I hope nothing bad has to happen before there will be some changes. The organizers should really sit down and think seriously about this. I think we riders should protest as well and ask for more safety.